Can lateral meniscus tear give pain on other side?

I am baffled. I just had an MRI that shows a meniscus tear on the lateral side. I have had this for many years but never any pain there. I've had 2 MRIs over the years but the pain always went away. The pain is on the inner side of my knee, the part that faces the other knee. The MRI shows nothing at all on the medial side. The MRI said rule out medial meniscus tear, and it did. There is nothing showing and I don't understand why it hurts now. Can a lateral tear give me pain on the other side? I haven't gotten the results yet from doc, just saw MRI..he has to look at films first. My x-rays showed no arthritis though. Any ideas? I am real hesitant to undergo surgery when they see nothing. It was a very detailed MRI report but something is causing this pain.